Perez Hilton dumps YouTube

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is breaking up with YouTube.

On Thursday, Hilton said that he would stop posting videos on YouTube, according to a story on TVWeek.com. Instead, he plans to host video on his own site, Perezhilton.com.

(Credit: PerezHilton.com)

The feud began earlier this week after YouTube pulled one of Hilton's videos because the site had received complaints from copyright holders. On Thursday, YouTube reinstated Hilton's video posting privileges, but the gossip maven told TVWeek that he is still miffed.

"I don't have any more incentive to make any more videos on YouTube," he said in the TVWeek interview. "I have sent them millions and millions of page views and the way they treated me...they aren't respecting me enough to treat me like a valued partner. I am so heartbroken because I was the biggest YouTube fan."

YouTube says it was just following its copyright policy, which calls for action to be taken when someone has received multiple complaints of copyright infringement.

"We cooperate with copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content," YouTube said in a statement. "When we receive a DMCA take-down notice alleging a video infringes copyright, we disable the video and notify the user who uploaded the video. The user then has an opportunity to challenge the complaint. We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in accordance with our repeat infringer policy, as required by the DMCA. In cases where an account is terminated for repeat infringement, it might be possible to have the account reinstated if one or more of the copyright claims is retracted."

Because this was not the first complaint YouTube had received about Hilton infringing copyright, the site disabled Hilton's account. But what makes this whole situation funny is that the "previous" complaints came from Viacom, which happens to be the parent company of VH1, which owns Hilton's TV show "What Perez Sez." Viacom also happens to be suing YouTube's parent Google for $1 billion for allowing its copyrighted video to be posted on the site. And it's the threat of this lawsuit that has likely caused YouTube to so stringently enforce its copyright policy. In essence, it was Hilton's own corporate parent that caused his account to be disabled.

Once Hilton's lawyer contacted Viacom about the letters, the media giant quickly rescinded its complaints, according to the TVWeek story. And that's why YouTube was able to reinstate his account.

But a hurt Hilton says he is done with YouTube. And at least for now, YouTube can kiss all his gossip-mongering video traffic good-bye.